Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Light Pollution- 'Apparitions'

This has probably been my most listened album in the past week or so besides the Morning Benders' new one, Big Echo. Both albums share a similar almost-summer vibe, which has helped fuel my wishful thinking for ever-increasing warm weather. Unlike that record, though, this one really hasn't garnered a ton of attention yet. That's not to say it won't -- the tracks on here are of such a quality that I doubt it's going to be ignored for very much longer.

To describe it by musical touchstones, one could say it's a combination of the lo-fi, blue-collar indie of Real Estate, the blissed-out, psychedelic drone sections that Animal Collective and Panda Bear frequently indulge in, those Beach Boys harmony sections that are all the rage recently, and even some anthemic, drum-led sections almost reminiscent of Arcade Fire. That's kind of what makes this so compelling, the band's ability to apply a variety of styles across a record and still come up with a style that sounds like theirs.

While there's certainly nothing on here anywhere near dead weight, if I had to pick standouts I'd go with opener "Good Feelings" and the swirly, mid-album "Bad Vibes," both of which exemplify the variety of styles on this album (the former a better example of the similarities to Real Estate and the latter a great example of the Animal Collective comparisons.)

I hope I'm not the only one excited about these guys (or the only one prematurely excited for indie rock summer albums, something which I'm a huge fan of.) Don't be surprised if, by the time that hot weather rolls around, this album is pulsing from the crappy laptop speakers of indie rock slackers everywhere.